Reviews (1)

I received my Max Trainer M5 about one week after I ordered it (12/3/2015 to be exact). But watch out for FedEx, they are delivering the machine with no signature required and if my neighbor hadn't called me at work, my machine would have sat in the rain and snow all day. FedEx dumped it in the worst spot possible.

1. Assembly was pretty easy. My wife and I had it together in about an hour.

2. Quality. This thing is pretty solid. I feared it was going to be fragile and flimsy (I was wrong). The steal is heavy duty (commercial strength). I weight almost 270 and it handled me fine.

3. Workout. Though I lift weights almost every day, I haven't done cardio in about a year. My first workout was the first level Max interval. It was challenging, but I did it. The movement reminds me as if I'm riding my bike standing up? It's comfortable and easy on the knees (I have one bad knee).

4. Problems. After about three uses, a bolt fell out of the inside of the unit (nothing I assembled). I opened it up and found three loose bolts on the wheel that turns the belt). Of course one of them completely fell out. So basically, the factory forgot to tighten these bolts during production. I could only access two of the bolts so I had to call customer service. They immediately knew what the problem was and are sending me the parts and a repair man from somewhere in my area to fix it. Customer service told me the belt wheel where the bolts were loose was plastic. For crying out loud Bowflex, you build this amazing machine and use a plastic belt wheel? Why would you do that? No, no!

Use metal, always. In the meantime, I'm out of service but I like the machine so much that I'm willing to exercise my patience.

5. Recommendations to Bowflex. 1. Use all metal parts if possible and think commercial at all times. Just charge accordingly. 2. The electronics screen could be elevated about 5 inches (it's a little low), the drink holder as well. 3. Add an on/off switch.

Do those things and you'll have the best overall cardio machine ever made. Well, you do anyway but...

6. Overall. The Max Trainer is definitely the best cardio machine I have ever used. The treadmill I was going to buy had a price tag of $3,400 so paying $1,600 for the M5 was significantly less. This is truly a great concept and it has exceeded my expectations. But use METAL not plastic!